The Lord’s Prayer

Introduction

Opening Illustration: For the opening illustration, I’ll have our children respond to the three catechism questions on prayer.

What is prayer? Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God.

With what attitude should we pray? With love, perseverance, and gratefulness.

What should we pray? The whole Word of God directs us in what we should pray.

Personal: Among the most significant aspects of our Christian faith, is prayer. Prayer is the beating heart of Christianity. It is the lifeblood of our communication with God. In many of my conversations with folks about their prayer life, I have found that folks generally fall into a few different categories. Some are thriving. They commune with God regularly, and they have a deep sense that God is abiding in them. Some are very disillusioned in their prayer life. They go through the motions from time to time, but their prayer life is not riveting. It is not rich and feeding their life. Others are untrained. They want to pray, but they just haven’t been around enough people praying to really know how to do it. How is your prayer life?

Context: Today we continue in our study verse by verse through the Gospel of Luke, and we come across a classic passage, on the Lord’s Prayer. Many of you may have memorized the Lord’s prayer at some point in your life. This prayer is found in both the Gospel of Luke (which we are studying now), as well as in a slightly different form in the Gospel of Matthew. When Jesus teaches this prayer to the disciples he does so as a way of modeling for his disciples how they ought to pray. While it can be prayed line by line, each line also serves as a guide for different aspects of prayer.

Luke 11:1–4 “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.””

Let’s go line by line through this prayer, and then I want to dig into practical applications in our life for this model of prayer.

Doctrines & Divisions

PREFACE: “FATHER”

The very first word in Jesus’ prayer is “Father.” This is Christ’s address. Some of us might begin a prayer, “Dear God” or “Lord.” But when Jesus taught us to pray he chose the word “Father.” What does the Word “Father” connote? Well, I think we can highlight quite aspects of this term that might shape our thinking on prayer.

Fatherly Love & Goodness: First, we think of Fatherly Love. I have three daughters of my own, and I love them entirely. I look forward to their hugs and kisses when I get home from a long day of work. I look forward to reading to them each night before they go to bed, and being the first person that holds them early in the morning. They are the delight of my heart. When Jesus says “Father” he is speaking to the one that loves him with that kind of tender fatherly love.

Fatherly Strength & Power: But it is more than fatherly love. It is also fatherly strength. The term father, to a child, ought to imply a source of strengh, of defense. A good father is a family’s defender and muscle. A child knows she is protected with the strength of the Father.

Fatherly Nobility: Lastly, the term father conveys a sense of Fatherly nobility. Many have an image of father that is one filled with all kinds of negative thoughts or emotions. But when we think of God as Father, think of all that that word “father” was meant to convey. Imagine for a moment that your Father was not only sweet and affectionate and loving and concerned and present, but was also the most well respected King ever known. When you walked into a room, you knew you were the apple of his eye, but you also knew, He was a noble good strong Man.

Only Possible Through Christ: Can everybody on this planet call God “Father?” No. This is the privelege of those whom have been adopted as children into God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ.

John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”

This is the right and the privelege only of the Chrisitan. Through Christ the Christian has been adopted as a child into God’s family, and we are legitimate children of God. Outside of faith in Christ, there is no such relationship. Outside of Christ God stands as our judge, and we stand as God’s enemy.

Experiential: Do you know Christ as Father? Do you have an intimacy with God that is marked by Fatherly goodness and love and tenderness?

PETITION 1: “HALLOWED BY THY NAME” - REVERANCE

Now, let us move on and consider each of these phrases briefly. The first phrase is “Hallowed be thy name.” The word hallowed means “consecrated” or “revered” or perhaps “treated as holy.” The heart that says this to God is a heart that has glimpsed the wonder and the glory of God, and they deeply desire all things to bring him glory. The person who prays this prayer hates when sin around them detracts from the glory of God. The person who prays this prayer hates sin, not only for its earthly consequences, but primarily because they cherish God!

In our Own Heart: Oh God may your name be made holy in my own heart and life. May nothing I do or say or think or feel put a stain upon the sacredness of God.

In My Family: Oh God may your name be made holy in the life of my family. May my children, and my wife, and our home be an incubator of elevating the name of Christ.

Honored in the World Around Us: Oh God may your name be made holy in the life of my community.

“Hallowed be thy name.”

PETITION 2: “YOUR KINGDOM COME” - DOMINION

The second petition reads “Your kingdom come.” At the heart of this phrase is dominion. The dominion of the Kingdom of God that was established through Christ’s death and resurrection and exploded at the first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled the Church.

Here, we pray that the dominion of satan and sin would be destroyed in the name of Jesus.

Here we pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ would go out into the world, and that as it does, goodness and morality and the love of God would spread like wildfire. We pray fervently for conversions of those around us who are far from God.

Here we pray for our city of Chicago, that death and violence and corruption would be overshadowed by the light of the gospel and goodness and truth and Kingdom prosperity would flow in its place.

Here we pray that God would raise up a generation of missionaries to reach the unreached people groups remaining in this world.

Here we pray for our children, that God’s kingdom would come into their heart. That they would choose Jesus for real, live for him alone, and never look back.

Here we pray our communities and our cities and our nation, that great revival would sweep through, and that we would be a nation of Christians that love and adore Christ

Your Kingdom come.

PETITION 3: “GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD” - SUSTENANCE

The third petition is “give us our daily bread.” Here we pray for our needs.

Dependent: To say this prayer we must recognize our absolute dependence on God for all things. We are dependent on God not just for the grace that forgives us our sin, but for the grace that sustains us in our life. All that we have is from God, from the food we eat, to the homes we live in, to the families we do life with, to the minds we labor with. It’s all from him. And were he to dry up his sustenance, it would all fade immediately.

Here we pray for the grace we need to be faithful in our tasks on this day. “Give us our daily bread”

Here we pray for the patience we need with those whom God has called us to do life with that require patience on our part.“Give us our daily bread”

Here we pray God’s provision for the needs of our children, and their schools, and their friends. “Give us our daily bread”

Here we pray that God would sustain us in this city, with enough money to live, and enough money for our church to operate. “Give us our daily bread”

PETITION 4: “FORGIVE US OUR SINS” - CONFESSION

Fourth petition “Forgive us our sins.” Here, the Lord invites us into a posture of confession. Confession is one of the great forsaken works of prayer in the modern Church. But all through the Scriptures, we are encouraged to confess our sins to God. Now as Christians we do not confess as many have been taught. Many believe that we are guilty until we confess our sins. And then the act of being forgiven only occurs once we confess our sins in a particular way. This is false, and not true to Christ’s teaching. As Christians we have already been saved by grace through faith. We do not accumulate sin like debt before God that must be acknowledged in order to restore a right relationship with God. God forgives us fully at the cross. We are loved fully at the cross. Yet, Christ invites us to confess our sin from a posture of already being fully loved.

We confess our sins of action. Where we have outright broken God’s commands through lying, gossiping, fornication, unrighteous anger, and any other outward sin.

We confess our sins of cooperation. Where perhaps others led the way in the sin, but we cooperated through our silence. When we failed in a moment to say, “Hallowed be your name.”

We confess our sins of our mind. Where we permitted our mind fall into lustful thoughts, or spiteful thoughts, or fearful worrisome thoughts, or doubting atheistic thoughts.

We confess the sins of our dispositions. Even before we ever think about applying our will in thought or action, our dispositions are sinful.

Forgive us our sins.

PETITION 5: “LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION” - PROTECTION

Fifth and final petition “Lead us not into temptation”. This is a prayer for protection. The Christian deeply desires to live a God-honoring life. They don't want to take shortcuts or fall into the ways of the world. But the man or woman who has been saved by grace, desires to live in grace.

Within: Every one of us is tempted in different ways. Temptations can arise within us. When our old sinful nature whispers in our hearts to behave or respond in a way beneath that of a saint in Christ. "Oh Lord, protect me from my own weakness."

The World: Temptations come at us from the world around us. Friends and peers, and workplace environments, and advertisements, alluring us to ideas and behaviors that unbecoming of a saint in Christ. "Oh Lord, protect us from the temptations of the world."

Satan: And of course, Satan tempts us by throwing these ideas in our face often at our weakest moment. "Oh Lord, protect us from the temptations of the wicked one."

“Lead us not into temptation.”

FINAL WORD

Permit me a final word on the content of this prayer before I move on. I am not teaching us that if we do not pray according to some formula, that our prayers are not heard by Christ. No, Jesus, because of death and resurrection, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit in you Christian hears the weakest and slightest of prayers as if they were great bold prayers of the prophets of old.

Proverbs 15:29 “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”

Yet, here we have a guide, categories of prayer, that as we grow in Christian maturity, we can aim for.

Applications & Use

We have now looked at the content of the Lord’s Prayer. I want to spend the rest of our short time today considering some very practical experiential use. To do that, let’s consider the next few verses that Jesus says. He writes

Luke 11:5–10 “And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Jesus is teaching us something very important in this passage about prayer, and if we’re willing, it might hit us close to home.

WE MUST PERSEVERE IN PRAYER IN A WAY THAT PROVES THAT WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

From this first half, verses 5-10, I think that Jesus is telling us that we must persevere in prayer ina way that proves that we really believe that God answers prayer. Jesus tells this quite strange story of a friend asking a neighbor for some groceries in the middle of the night. And the point of the story is “keep asking. Don’t stop. Eventually that neighbor will give what you’re asking.” Jesus uses that to teach us that we must keep submitting our prayers to God. We must not grow weary in our persevering because in God’s good timing and in God’s good way he answers prayer.

Illustrations: How many stories do we have of God’s faithfulness to respond to persevering prayer in this room!?

Mothers who prayed faithfully for prodigal sons and daughter to come to faith in Jesus. Years go by. No sign of anything, but a faithful mama locked in her closet pleading with God. Then one day, out of nowhere, a phone call “Mom, you know I went to this Church this weekend.”

Marriages that were on the rocks filled with argument and dissatisfaction. One spouse pleading, pleading, pleading. Months go by. Therapy isn’t working. Then one day, a softening. The Lord’s provision and tender hand of love pouring down grace upon grace in a home.

The list is extensive, but Christ’s teaching is simple. Don’t give up. Dig your heels into prayer. Make space for it every day. Keep knocking, keep asking.

Heads of House: To the heads of each household, let me encouarge you to take time every day to gather your family together to pray over them. Husbands, take time every day to hold your wife and pray with her and over her. Watch the fruit that comes into your home when you fill your home with prayer.

GOD’S ANSWERS ARE OFTEN SURPRISING BUT ALWAYS BETTER THAN YOU THOUGHT

Secondly, God’s answers are often surprising, but always better than you thought they would be.

Luke 11:11–13 “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!””

Why We Don’t Go to God: I think one of the reasons that so many Christians have a less than stellar prayer life, is simply because they really don’t believe that God delights in giving good gifts to his children. Their vision of God is so tiny that they expect so little.

Illustration - Jason: One of our pastors up on the north side was sharing a story this last weekend. Our new Church plant up in Uptown has no parking available anywhere near them on Sunday mornings. It makes it really hard for people to come be a part of their Church. And so the pastors were walking around the block one day and they said, “You know what God, I don’t know why I haven’t really asked you for this. Jesus, will you please get us parking. Oh… And Jesus, we are a bootstrap Church plant, can you give it to us for free?” That week the owner of the Aragorn Ballroom gave them the key to their parking lot.

Luke 11:13 “… how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!””

Appeal to the Heart: O faithful Church, your heavenly Father knows everything you are enduring. Jesus knows how difficult it is to live in this fallen world. There is no suffering and hardship that we will endure that Christ is not intimately familiar with. God knows your whole story, even the parts that have not been written yet. Lay your prayers before God, and let him be God. Commit yourself to the work of prayer as you learn to delight in that quiet place with God, where he ministers to your soul.

Conclusion

Illustration: Ralph: One of the Pastors on staff with Park is Ralph Edmonds, and he leads a group up on the north side of the city called Grief Share. Grief Share is for those who have experienced severe grief. Ralph himself, if any of you know his story, is no stranger to grief. It was in one particular grief share meeting recently, he was explaining to the group, how even in our darkest valleys God is there with you in Christ. Even when it seems like he is distant and not answering prayers, in Christ he is there. When he got done sharing, a woman in the group looked up at him, and with tears in her eyes said, “I wish I had that.”

You Can Have That: I want to plead with you today, if you are in this room and you’re saying to yourself, “I hear what this pastor is talking about but it just sounds so foreign.” Let me invite you to receive Jesus Christ today. Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive us our debt to God and to establish a relationship with God, a relationship with a heavenly father, who is tender and loves us. You were made for that relationship.

Altar Call & Prayer